‘Top Chef’ 22 recap: ‘Brunch à la Boulud’ was quintessentially Canadian, from the poutine to the maple syrup

Last week in the season premiere of Top Chef, "Across Canada, We Go!," the chefs teamed up for a Quickfire Challenge in which they based their dishes around specific sets of ingredients chosen from the Top Chef pantry and by each of the judges. The team of César Murillo, Mimi Weissenborn, and Katianna Hong won that battle with their apple and fennel soup with clams, corn, and chorizo relish. But Mimi had much less luck in the Elimination Challenge, which pitted the teammates against each other as they prepared meals inspired by the five different regions of Canada. Vincenzo "Vinny" Loseto prevailed with a perfectly cooked confit salmon, but Mimi was unable to manage her time effectively. She overcooked her potatoes and dried out her pork. So she was eliminated and sent to Last Chance Kitchen in the hopes of earning a spot back in the main competition.

This week the chefs joined forces again for an Elimination Challenge where two teams had to create brunch menus utilizing maple syrup as their key ingredient in order to impress renowned chef Daniel Boulud. Read on for our recap of Top Chef Season 22, Episode 2, titled "Brunch à la Boulud," which aired Thursday, March 20 on Bravo.

Quickfire Challenge

First, the chefs were introduced to Schitt's Creek actress Sarah Levy (sibling of Dan Levy, daughter of Eugene Levy), who would help judge this week's episode. She, Kristen Kish, and Gail Simmons informed the contestants that their task was to cook their own unique variations of a quintessential Canadian dish: poutine, which consists of french fries, cheese curds, and gravy. Their versions would need to include a starchy vegetable base, a sauce, and a cheese.

On the bottom for the challenge, Henry's dish was praised for great sauce, but dinged for its spongy pancake. Bailey made good fries, but there were too many competing elements in her dish. Paula's dish had strong flavor, but her sauce was too wet for the french fries. Among the best chefs was Quebec native Massimo, who delivered the traditional poutine flavor in an elevated way. Kat was nearly eliminated last week for her unfinished Elimination Challenge preparation, but here she delivered a traditional poutine with a lot of depth to its mushroom sauce. And Shuai had a perfect fondant potato with a gorgeous glaze. But there could only be one winner, and it was Shuai Wang.

Elimination Challenge

From one Canadian staple to another. For this challenge, the cheftestants would use maple syrup, which we got a preview of last week when Massimo used it in the season premiere Quickfire. There's a centuries-old tradition known as the sugar shack where sap is turned into maple syrup and you can often find a full brunch menu. So the chefs had to create their own brunch menus, with each chef responsible for one dish , and all the dishes needed to include a maple component. By drawing knives, the chefs were divided into two teams of seven:

BROWN: Lana Lagomarsini, Shuai Wang, César Murillo, Zubair Mohajir, Tristen Epps, Paula Endara, and Corwin Hemming

GREEN: Kat Turner, Katianna Hong, Henry Lu, Anya El-Wattar, Massimo Piedimonte, Vinny Loseto, and Bailey Sullivan

But as usual, there was a twist. After the chefs finished their initial shopping at Whole Foods, Kristen strutted ominously into the parking garage to surprise them. She told them that each team now had $50 more to spend at St. Lawrence Market on additional ingredients ... for the other team to use. "Now the strategy begins as a team," said Kat. "Are we going to be naughty or nice?" Lana proposed to her team, "I'm not trying to screw them, but at the same time we don't have to give them a layup." The Brown Team bought cooked lasagna for their opponents, which Zubair considered "a little dash of evil," and some truffle oil. The Green Team was also thinking Italian, buying their opponents multiple slices of cooked pizza and assorted candies, including candy corn — which is a little more than a dash of evil.

But just like last week, the clock was the most diabolical element of all, especially for two chefs. Bailey, following her near-fatal brush with risotto last week, attempted maple tarts. Unfortunately, she had to pull them out of the oven before they were ready so she could get them all plated on time, and the judges clocked the mistake: the tarts were doughy and undercooked. Meanwhile, on the opposing team, Corwin tried to make chawanmushi, a savory Japanese steamed egg custard. "Chawanmushi has such a small margin of error," Tristen warned. "I just want to make sure it doesn't sink the team at all." Fateful words, as Corwin's plates were cooked inconsistently, with Boulud getting the worst of the bunch, which still had the plastic wrap covering it from the steaming.

Judges' Table

Corwin dodged a bullet, though. The Brown Team was declared the winner of the challenge for best highlighting the maple flavor in their dishes. Corwin obviously wasn't chosen as the individual winner (that was Zubair for his tandoori maple fried chicken over scallion corn cake), but he was relieved not to have cost the rest of his team the $35,000 prize. Just as crucial, he wasn't at risk of elimination. Instead it was the Green Team on the chopping block, but only two chefs were called out by the judges for critiques of their unsuccessful dishes: Henry for his own fried chicken, which had a dried-out crust, and yes, Bailey for those undercooked tarts. In the end, Bailey got the axe.

"I just think I didn't cook the food that I really know," Bailey observed on her way out. "Pastry is far from something I do every day, but I'm still proud of the work that I did here and the way that I pushed myself out of my comfort zone. Last Chance Kitchen — I'm hopeful. I've just gotta keep myself mentally in the game."

Next time on Top Chef ...

The chefs will create their own versions of Jamaican patties, making their own dough from scratch. Then they will prepare a dish best served cold.